Can dual enrollment decrease college remedial courses?

At least one college in Texas is trying to find out. I'd never really thought about this as a benefit of dual enrollment. This Washington Post article also discusses other strategies to limit remedial college education.

So the college decided to partner with every public school district in its area to offer dual enrollment in high schools, a practice with momentum around Texas and across the country but more often involving high achievers looking to score early college credit.

The college sends instructors into high schools, or uses existing faculty there, and deputizes them as “adjuncts” to provide extra coursework in exchange for modest honoraria. The students earn South Texas College credit and complete the work along with their regular high school course load while staying on track to graduate on time.

The inexpensive approach is aimed at eliminating the need and cost of postsecondary remediation courses that don’t earn college credit, a significant problem for students.

“These are those students that may be first generation, that may be high risk, that with a little bit more help may be successful in college,” Mejia said. “We give them a lot of help.”

For Mauricio Perez, 22, in McAllen, Texas, that meant working on his English. He’s been in the U.S. only four years from his native Mexico. His high school grades improved with his newfound language skills and he graduated high school on time. Perez now attends South Texas full time, with an eye on becoming a high school Spanish teacher.

“I thought if I did well in high school why not do well in college,” he said.

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